Aug. 23, 2005: HAMPTON CHALLENGES MONROE COSTS

Closing Fort Monroe could cost the federal government nearly $2 billion over the next 20 years, according to a recent report from the city of Hampton disputing the Pentagon's argument that the move would save money.The city says the military has far underestimated the costs for removing unexploded ordnance, relocating troops and preserving historic buildings.

The city sent the findings to the independent base closing commission about two weeks ago. But as Hampton braces for the panel's final recommendation on the future of the post this week, city officials are finding that Fort Monroe isn't the top priority for many Virginia politicians.

"It's hard to get a lot of attention, with Oceana right now," Hampton City Councilman Charles Sapp said, referring to discussions about possibly relocating Navy jets from Virginia Beach to Florida.

The case for keeping Fort Monroe open was made weeks ago, Sapp said, while the effort to save Naval Air Station Oceana wasn't necessary until after the Base Closure and Realignment Commission targeted it last month.

Still, Sapp said, he's hopeful that the commission might reverse the recommendation from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and decide to keep Fort Monroe open because the previous estimates of cost savings are inaccurate.

Hampton officials are desperate to save the Army instillation, which has occupied a narrow strip along the Chesapeake Bay for more than 150 years. It's one of Hampton's largest employers and a landmark that helps define the nearby community.

Several years ago, Congress initiated this year's base closings in an effort to save money by consolidating the military. Fort Monroe, which has been considered a prime target for closure in previous rounds, was one of 33 major bases recommended for closure by Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld said his plan, which includes realigning more than 700 other bases nationwide, would save $5.5 billion a year. Closing Fort Monroe is estimated to save nearly $700 million over the next two decades.

Communities across the country have questioned the findings in hopes of saving their bases.

In Hampton, city officials have focused their argument on the price tag associated with closing the base -- especially the uncertainties about what might be in the ground and water that stem from decades of drills that were conducted long before precise records were kept.

Hampton says that not only would there be no savings but that it could cost $1.95 billion.

The biggest part of the city's estimate is based on a 1988 Army document estimating that a complete cleanup there would cost between $700 million and $952 million. With 17 years of inflation factored in, the cost would now be between $1 billion and $1.36 billion.

The report also says that maintaining the historic buildings on the base would cost $150 million over the next 20 years.

Relocating the troops to Fort Eustis and other yet-to-be determined bases -- based on a 12-year-old Army report and adjusted for inflation -- would cost $91 million.

The estimates for the environmental cleanup are based largely on the technology used two decades ago for finding and removing unexploded ordnance.

The Center for Public Environmental Oversight reported last year that new technology for identifying buried bombs and more precisely removing them has dramatically lowered the cost of cleaning military bases. The report said new methods for locating underground weapons could lower the cost from $1,000 an acre to about $50 an acre.

Brian Deprofio, an assistant to the Hampton city manager who has spearheaded the city's research on Fort Monroe, acknowledged that the report's estimates were based on sketchy information. But, he said, it's the same incomplete data that the military has used to determine that it would cost $200 million just to clean the fort enough to keep using it as a military base.

"The problem with Fort Monroe is that no real definitive studies have been done," Deprofio said. "The number could probably be anywhere on the map between the $200 million number and the $1 billion from the 1980 report. It's difficult to get an estimate."

The base closing commission is scheduled to conduct final deliberations Wednesday through Saturday in Northern Virginia. A vote on whether to close Fort Monroe is expected Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.

If the commission upholds Rumsfeld's closure recommendation for Fort Monroe, it will be forwarded to President Bush and Congress for final approval of the total plan.

Oceana's future is expected to be one of the first topics discussed Wednesday. *